February 26, 2011

Doctors from the University of Wisconsin's Department of Family Medicine have been handing out sick notes for "stress" to teachers and other public employees who've been missing work to protest in downtown Madison, reports Atlantic. In the article, Dr. Ford Vox writes that the doctors "carried their patient advocacy too far." Multiple videos show evidence of several doctors writing fake sick notes at the protest sites. One unidentified young doctor was videotaped saying, "We are here writing doctor's notes to support our public employees who have been mentally anguished and distressed this last week and needed to be out here for their mental health." Dr. Vox writes, "Medically speaking, that's comedy."

James Mond III, 15, was made to wear a sign advertising his 1.22 GPA while standing on a busy street corner in Tampa, Fla. for almost hour hours, reports the St. Petersburg Times. The sign also said, "Honk if I need education," and plenty of drivers did just that. Rhonda Holder, a hair stylist and 33-year-old mother of six, was frustrated that her son didn't seem to realize the importance of getting an education. She didn't want her son to end up standing on the side of the road begging for change. The boy's school responded to the street-corner incident by enrolling James in after-school tutoring. St. Petersburg Times reports that Terry Field, a spokesman for the Department of Children and Families, believes the punishment "might legally be considered bizarre, a form of maltreatment."

On Friday's Today show, Kathie Lee Gifford tested out some dog food that's advertised as being edible for humans, reports Huffington Post. Kathie Lee's co-host, Hoda Kotb, and the crew all refused to try the canine fare. Hoda explained, "I don't eat dog food." After tasting a forkful of the doggie morsels, Kathie Lee said, "Not bad." However, she quickly changed her opinion, as she exclaimed, "Now it's bad." Kathie Lee noted that she's going to take the food home to her dogs. She added that if the dogs don't like it, then she'll be sick!

With her new book, Susan Jacoby tries to set the record straight about old age, and her views are rather bleak. Jacoby's latest book is called Never Say Die. According to New York Times book reviewer Ted C. Fishman, Jacoby wants to reveal the truth that "extreme old age can be nasty, brutish and long." The author, 65 herself, seems to be trying to disenchant the baby boomers. According to the review, baby boomers may think they can "reinvent" old age, or life past 60, like they reinvented young adulthood. However, they may merely be blind to the "regrettable facts of old age" after having been "steeped for decades in the national can-do, self-help, will-make-it-so stew," writes Fishman. The author admits her book is also based on her own fears of dependence, poverty and dementia.